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In another steamy, packed room in Detroit, a bit of rock history came full circle Tuesday night.

Fifty years to the hour after the 1968 recording of the MC5’s “Kick Out the Jams” at the Grande Ballroom four miles to the west, guitarist Wayne Kramer’s MC50 took over Third Man Records to cut a new version of the record that helped define Detroit rock.

“Never in a million years did I think that 50 years later I’d be in Detroit recording ‘Kick Out the Jams’ live,” Kramer told the fortunate crowd of about 250 jammed into Jack White’s complex in Midtown.

Inside a backroom production studio, an audio crew mixed on the fly while a vintage 1970 lathe cut the show live to acetate — setting up a “Kick Out the Jams” record that will be pressed at Third Man's vinyl plant and released in early 2019.

The MC50's "Kick Out the Jams" anniversary performance is cut live to acetate in a backroom production studio at Third Man Records in Detroit on Oct. 30, 2018.(Photo: Brian McCollum, Detroit Free Press)

The recording situation made for a fun if unorthodox show: Kramer and company periodically paused the performance as the acetates in back were flipped or replaced, filling the time with autograph signings, makeshift jams and musings on weed legalization.

Kramer gave his regards to onetime MC5 manager and Detroit counterculture fixture John Sinclair, who was watching on from afar via a cell phone video stream.

It was a festive gathering that included diehard Detroit rock fans, veteran local musicians and Tigers great Kirk Gibson, as the MC50 wrapped up a three-show stand that included shows at Saint Andrew’s Hall and the Fillmore Detroit.

The Detroit run closed out a well-received U.S. tour celebrating “Kick Out the Jams,” and the band will head next week to Europe for a month of shows.

But that probably won’t be the end for the group featuring Kramer, Kim Thayil (guitar), Marcus Durant (vocals), Billy Gould (bass), Matt Cameron (drums) and Brendan Canty (drums). With the band firing on all cylinders after a season on the road, there’s talk of more music to come in 2019 — including a possible studio album.

Like Friday’s show at Saint Andrew’s, the Third Man performance was tight, sinewy and at times explosive, as Kramer and company ran through the eight-song “Kick Out the Jams” topped by a handful of other MC5 numbers. At one point, nine musicians — including a three-piece horn section — were crowded at the small corner stage, on a night that felt like a Detroit rock family affair. Tino Gross (Howling Diablos) was welcomed up for an upbeat “Shakin’ Street,” handling the lines once sung on record by the late Fred (Sonic) Smith.

It all happened with the original MC5 looming nearby: On the Third Man wall sits a giant image from the band’s 1970 concert at Wayne State University’s old Tartar Field.

Proceeds from Tuesday's show will benefit Kramer's nonprofit group Jail Guitar Doors, which provides musical instruments and instruction to inmates.